The present invention relates generally to construction of buildings, and more particularly describes a novel building construction for homes or similar structures having a floor plan in which neither the length nor width exceeds, say, about 30 feet or about 9 meters. The invention is especially advantageous in building on land which is steeply sloping.
Building homes on steeply sloping land typically involves expensive site preparation such as earth-moving and the erection of structural support members of substantial length and complexity. As a result, much land area in hilly terrain has come to be regarded as "unbuildable" for homes because of the costs involved. Furthermore, it is well known that structural components of a building can be fabricated much less expensively indoors, as at a factory, than at the building site itself. Hence prefabricated components are economically advantageous provided that they can be safely and conveniently transported on conventional roads from the place of manufacture to the site. This latter factor requires that neither the width nor the height of the components may exceed some maximum value permitted by the authorities, typically about 12 feet, or about 3.5 meters.
In accordance with the present invention there are provided four modules which may be economically fabricated indoors and then transported to the site for erection. Each module includes a column which will be vertical when erected, and additional structural members fixed to the column which form portions of structural trusses in the completed building. When the module is transported with its column horizontal, neither its width nor its height exceeds a value typically permitted on highways, such as about 12 feet, but the finished building can provide a floor plan of 30 feet or even more in length and width. The illustrative embodiment of the invention herein described and shown has two stories, as for a typical home, but any reasonable number of stories can be provided.
In the finished structure in accordance with the invention, the vertical columns of the four modules are fixed to the ground by suitable means, herein shown as including a concrete foundation. The axes of the columns lie at vertices of a rectangle, herein shown as a square, having a length and width of 10 feet or less, so that the concrete foundation can be economically poured even on a steep slope.
With the columns erected and joined by horizontal connectors at points spaced along their lengths, there are created upper and lower sets of trusses, with segments of the columns serving as spreaders in the trusses. Each set of trusses includes two pairs of parallel trusses perpendicular to the trusses of the other pair, and the trusses of the upper set are vertically aligned with corresponding trusses of the lower set. Structural members such as struts extend generally vertically between corresponding points on upper and lower trusses spaced outwardly from the columns, and struts also extend generally vertically between the outer ends of inclined hip members extending angularly from each column at the top of the upper trusses and at the bottom of the lower trusses. The modules and other structural members can be made of wood or steel, or other material of comparable strength.
It is accordingly a principal object of the present invention to provide a novel building construction especially advantageous for use on steeply sloping land. Other objects are to disclose four prefabricated modules for use in such construction having lateral dimensions permitting convenient transportation on conventional roads; to provide such modules each having an elongated column and structural members fixed thereto which become chord segments of structural trusses in the completed building; to provide, in such a construction, upper and lower sets of trusses, each set including two pair of trusses parallel to one another and perpendicular to the trusses of the other pair; to provide such trusses including spreaders which are segments of the module columns; and for additional purposes which will be understood from the following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.